Hey all,
Well I'm so new to this hobby that I still have my 65 tall set-up and running as a reef tank. Main thing I am doing right now is waiting for the first Tuesday of the next month so my livestock can go back to my LFS. At that point I will begin the break down of the tank. I have a couple of questions that I'd like to throw out. First and foremost, re-usable equipment. My tank is drilled with a 20 gallon long sump/refugium under cabinet, running a Reef Octopus 110 GPH protein skimmer. 165 watt leds lights on seperate switches, 75 watt 10,000 kelvin "whites" and 90 watts, 20,000 kelvin "blues". When running together, they are rated at 14,000 kelvin. They put off virtually no heat and I'm sure that that's probably overkill, but they sure make corals and algae grow like crazy and the colors really pop.
1) lights. I haven't seen ANYONE that uses leds in vivariums, or I haven't found anyone yet. I plan on using mine, maybe not using the blues and if possible, getting a dimmer card to dim the whites if need be. Any thoughts on leds as whole in this hobby? I know that the gold standard in reefing is compacts like the T-5's this hobby uses with a switch coming now over to leds in the saltwater community. I'm aware the lights are for plants and not for the animals per se.
2) False bottom. I WANT to incorporate my protein skimmer and sump into the vivarium. I don't want a water feature, but would like a reservoir under the false bottom that circulates and cleans all the water that comes down through the substrate and media. I have a 5 stage rodi/distilled water purifier setup that automatically adjusts my water levels due to evaporation.
Thanks in advance for your answers and as far as re-using my equipment? If I can't boil it to clean it, I won't use it!